The past comes to life on Belcourt Castle’s ghost tours
Belcourt Castle ghost tours have a no-nonsense concept of horror which leaves guests questioning the existence of the paranormal. The fright begins once world traveler Virginia Smith and mansion owner Harle Tinney tell their real life tales and experiences in the historic mansion.
“It’s a magical place,” said Mrs. Tinney, whose late husband Donald’s family purchased the house in 1956. Designed by Richard Morris Hunt and built between 1891 and 1894, Belcourt was styled after a Louis XIII hunting lodge, complete with intricate woodwork and attached stables. Originally built as a summer cottage for New York banker Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont, the estate is located on the southern end of Bellevue Avenue, just across the way from the Preservation Society’s Marble House and not far from Doris Duke’s Rough Point.
Mrs. Tinney tells tales of her run-ins with the ghost, which she said don’t bother her and Ms. Smith recalls stories of the spirits who find themselves wandering throughout Belcourt and its vast collection of furniture.
“There are 17 ghosts here, but the most famous is the monk who is seen several times a year,” Ms. Smith said. Located in the mansion’s chapel, the apparition came along with a 17th century German woodcarving of a monk.
The monk’s most recent appearance was over the summer during a wedding. Mrs. Tinney said that she saw a man in a long overcoat walking away from the dinner party, so she ran after him to turn him around. When she got close to the chapel, the man was gone.
Five of the ghosts haunt the Belcourt ballroom. A knight in shining armour will often screech and growl when two or more teenage girls grace the ballroom, said Ms. Smith and another supernatural being haunts a mirror in the music room on the second floor. One can try not to be convinced as the reflection begins to move back and forth, although everything is actually still.
Also occupying the music room is a trunk that Mrs. Tinney and her late husband Donald, who she said was labeled a “medium” by many, bought at an antique store years ago. She said that they left the trunk in the car overnight and when they went to bring it inside the next morning, the initials OHPB (Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont) were on the back of the trunk.
During her 14 years at Belcourt doing the ghost tours, Ms. Smith said that they have always been popular. They often sell out, she added, which was apparent by the more than 40 people on the tour.
Gullibility has found fertile soil. It’s ghastly that Mrs. Tinney is so economical with the truth to enrich herself at the expense of the gullible and Newport’s legitimate tourist attractions. This kind of blatant hucksterism has no place in Newport’s tourism industry.
Hey Rachael, as my kids would say, don't hate. LOL Its a beautiful place with some great history and is a little spooky in places. :) But in these economic times, everyone needs a gimmick to get people through the door. Each mansion has its own "thing" to separate them from the others and I guess ghosts are there thing.
And as for Newport's tourism industry, a lot of bars down there getting lots of tourist dollars.
The tourism industry is very competitive in these tough economic times, and Belcourt Castle’s hucksterism is giving Newport’s cultured tourist spots along the Bellevue Avenue historic district a black eye and making Newport less competitive. It is generally agreed that cultural tourists spend substantially more than standard tourists do.
Pierce please explanin the difference between a cultural
tourist and a standard one .
When I think of a cultured tourist attraction, I think of a place where tourists visit for its inherent or exhibited cultural value.
That place is no joke!!! I was there two days ago and I saw Michael Jackson's ghost roaming the grounds..... before I turned around to run it said "hee hee" grabbed its crotch and moonwalked back into the wall.
Scurry, scurry stuff
Pierce, I don't see a problem with Belcourt giving ghost tours to drive more visitors through their gates which in turn drives more customers to local shops and restaurants. They give regular historic tours during the day and ghost tours on select nights during the week.
The competition can complain but thats it. It is Mrs. Tinney's business which she can run any way she likes. But after some of my kids' friends saw the Ghost Hunters episode shot there, I've been nagged about another trip Newport. I can only imagine how much business they have gotten from the ghosts of Belcourt.
CommonSense4U, Belcourt Castle, as run by the Royal Arts Foundation, is allegedly a nonprofit museum. It isn’t expected to be a house where wild no underwear parties are held or a place where hucksterism flourishes.
The nickels and dimes that trickle down to local businesses from Belcourt Castle’s ghost tours don’t add up to the real money Newport needs in this difficult economic climate.
Newport takes itself far too seriously. Thank goodness for Belcourt Castle!
Self-respect is a matter of taking oneself seriously.
I saw a ghost when I toured Belcourt Castle! It looked like a big white elephant!
The foolish statements of Newport’s socialites pass for truth.
